Palomino
by Winginit13
Summary: Sango didn't mean to cross paths with Miroku and Inuyasha, honestly if Miroku hadn't beaten her by five seconds she would have never made any attempt at conversation after he tried to buy her horse, fate has a weird way of pulling people together. Dirt roads, long rolling spaces, horses, and fictional drama, what more could be more fun? Rated M for some language, and dark themes.
1. Gold Digger

The beating of a single horse's hooves sounded like a landslide from where Sango was sitting. She leaned forward as far as she could, letting out sounds that could only be compared to a banshee. She was using as little rein as possible only controlling the horse with her legs on the straight homestretch, managing to keep her feet appropriately placed in the saddle was a challenge in itself at this speed, but she was determined enough to not lose her stirrups. She almost dropped them in frustration, when she hit the finish line and was rushed in the gate. She pulled back on the reins, restricting speed as the handsome creature came to a stop. Her heart sounded like a steady drum banging in her chest, she could hear it thump as she turned her head to see the dust clouds that had risen from the speed of her horse settle slowly.

She listened ready to hear the time from the man sitting above the ring in the announcer box. '15.92' the number resonated across the crowd covered in stadium lights, the timer sitting up above the gate lit the number up in read, as it let out of the arena. Screw what the boys from her high school had told her, horseback riding was so a sport, and the rush barrels gave her should be no different than the rush of adrenaline from getting a touchdown in football. Sango couldn't have felt more pleased with herself as she leaned forward to pet Gold Digger. The equine creature was not only a teammate but also a soul mate, if not part of her own soul. When they would run the sharp turns and patterns amongst the barrels, it was as though they became a gust of wind, only leaving clouds of dust where they tread.

The front gate became a well-known target as the gelding always dashed towards it with Sango practically laying flat on the horse while trying to push him to full speed. "Good Boy!" She mused as the horse threw his head in a responsive way, at least that's how Sango understood it. Her father had taught her how to train and gentle a horse through the tank-like palomino. She often remembered the words her Father told her when the horse had first arrived at the old barn that was a few hundred feet from their house.

 _Sango, he's a strong willed man, he needs a strong willed woman to keep up with that and push him to full potential._

As she rode him back to the trailer to give him a breather she took a moment to admire the handsome equine. His short, flaxen mane moved with the bounce in his electric steps. He was a gift from the heavens above, horses were a gift from God himself. Nothing so magnificent could stand next to the animals, they gave freedom, and understood the human heart in ways that people themselves couldn't.

In this world, at least to Sango, nothing could stand in comparison to a horse. They had captivated her from a young age, Sango often remembered her and her father taking long rides out in the long, rolling plains of Montana. She missed that.

 _He feels comfortable with you._ Sango's mind basked in those memories of conversations with him.

 _You really think so?_ Words exchanged between a thirteen year old her, and A man in his late forties, they sat on horseback and the never ending field hit the alarmingly large mountains in the distance, those mountains must have been able to touch the heavens, tell stories, and converse with the God, and the sky that held tones of pink, and blue which in comparison made her realize her smallness.

 _I indeed do, he has the same look as you...when you look off into those mountains he's as relaxed as you, as free as you._ Sango remembers the wise feedback from her Father, and how much confidence it gave her. As her father gazed at her while he sat on his own horse and smiled with what she remembered to be the words that drifted into her memory like the breeze that shivered down her spine in the cool Montana spring. _You're him, he's you. You've bonded, and now your hearts will never separate._

* * *

Sango rode down the line of trailers when she she could hear shifting sounds and a raised voice of her adolescent brother before she could even see him. "Hey, knock it off, Dobin!" Sango had halted her horse to look up and see Kohaku jerked on the halter repeatedly, trying to pick up his Paso Fino's head. When they had bought the horse, Sango and her Father had thought the bay mare would be calm enough for her flighty, scared, younger brother, she indeed was but it was Kohaku who often lacked confidence, and was in fear of what to do if anything would go wrong, leading him to lose patience and often fight as most children do. Sango dismounted Gold Digger, once the gelding was tied to the trailer, she walked over to Dobin, pulling her head off the ground, and tightening the rope that had her tied to the trailer to only give her access to hay at level with her head.

The seventeen year old girl wavered the attention of her frustrated brother. "Kohaku, look" The flustered twelve year old boy picked up his head, giving his Sister attention as she offered help. "This is how you tie, not too loose, not too tight" with the instruction, Sango effortlessly looped it twice with success."If you tie it too tight and she would rear, and it could end up hurting her, don't have it too loose either, you haven't rode her yet today and she hasn't earned that privilege yet of being able to snag bites of grass." Kohaku nodded quickly as Sango made sure he had absorbed the words she had spoken.

"Alright I'll remember that." Kohaku was a good kid, and not a bad rider but at twelve, you still have a lot to learn about horses, Sango was seventeen and had little to no problems anymore, her Father had taught her well, even told her she had a way of her own with horses, but Kohaku wasn't as much as a natural as her but he still had that love and passion that was a bottom line for whatever you do in life and the way he was with Dobin, was much like Sango's way with Gold Digger.

Gold Digger balanced Sango, she was stern and gave little trust to people due to their lack of ability to be trustworthy. Gold Digger was as dependable as horses came, her Father taught him to 'protect his rider', meaning if anything would happen to Sango, that horse would go nowhere, he would stand completely still, until she mounted him and gave him permission to move. Nevertheless, the gelding was more of a gentleman than most boys had been to Sango her entire life, aside from her deceased Father of course. Dobin balanced Kohaku, The mare was gentle and could make up for the concentration Kohaku lacked on his bad days, she was a strong horse, who was able to be a lady, and a motherly attitude to take care of the young boy. They had become the things the siblings needed; their safe havens, their rocks, they only had their grandparents and the magnificent creatures left to them by their Father.

"Okay, hop on" Sango turned around after her words had been cut off to see Kohaku petting Dobin as she stood perfectly still with her ears perked forward, alert but patient, his reins sitting in a stoic way near the saddle horn. Dobin, sounded like even-tempered to her, the very name could stand the test of time, waiting for a lost love, or wounded associate with unconditional love and patience.

Sango looked at the horse and approached the mare with a gentle pat. "Take care of him, okay?" Nothing left her feeling secure like her brother on a well behaved horse. Sometimes Sango tried to behave as though she was a mother to Kohaku, but she felt her place in his life was better as a sister than a mother. She had held the weight of a senile Grandfather and Grandmother, a young boy growing up, a parent leaving when she was five, and a parent dying when she was thirteen which at times made her feel much older than she actually was, making her feel more like a mother than a sister.

"You don't need to worry!" Kohaku spoke with excitement. He was obviously ready for his first rodeo of the season. "I'm only doing pole bending, and fifty yard dash." His smile was warm and had attempted to calm his nervous sister down. She often wondered if this is what their parents would have felt like to see him go and compete his first time.

Sango took a deep sigh, crossing her arms and looked at Kohaku; he was weak, he was naive, and she loved her brother, she wanted to see him become a strong young man, even if their he had very little of a patriarch to look up too. "Yes, but accidents still can happen, so you need your-" Sango was cut off in an abrupt fashion.

"Concentration, I know, sis, chill" after this he rode off to the gate about four hundred meters away. Sango hopped on Gold Digger pushing him into a trot to catch up with her little brother. He had probably picked up on her attitude over the years, the two spent enough time together with the horses that if Kohaku saw Sango act a certain way about anything, he would try and develop the same attitude.

* * *

When they arrived at the gate it was filled with other riders. Sango continued to caution Kohaku about letting horses come up behind Dobin, or him coming up on the rear ends of strange horses of the other riders that were patiently waiting for the event to begin. With all of Sango's worrying over her brother the time came for him to enter the gate.

"Good luck, just remember to-" again, Kohaku thought his sister was being a worry wart and cut her off. Cut from the same cloth was becoming an understatement as they grew older. Sango's stubborn attitude was slowly becoming his too.

"Thanks Sis!" with this he rode in the gate, once Dobin saw the line of evenly spaced poles in the arena, it was a matter of seconds for her to know her job.

She burst out of the gate with speed and agility. Dust flew as she tore up the side of the poles, they took a first turn as Kohaku leaned inward with Dobin so to avoid any falls, his balance was quite good for a twelve year old boy, he was small and agile like she was at that age and still was. He was well connected with his horse, a bond between a make and a female that was functionable. Boy his age rarely understood that.

Sango hoped that maybe if he understood mares, as he grew older he would be smart with girls, and act like a proper gentlemen. To handle a women correctly would allow the young boy to avoid conflict that was unnecessary in life.

When he reached the end he weaved back up the cones and turned to push Dobin down the home stretch, they completed the event with a time of '35 seconds'. Sango was overwhelmingly proud, for him simply being able to do it. After all, shows and rodeos should not be entered to solely to win, but more to enjoy yourself and have fun in competition.

She was thrilled that he had done so well with his horsemanship, just being able to get a horse to do what you want with good communication was always a good start. "Good job, bud," Sango congratulated as he rode up to her on the chocolate brown mare. Kohaku though looked disappointed , she wasn't sure if it was about his performance in the ring or something else, but being his sister she was obliged to ask. "You okay, you look upset there?"

Her voice offered a soothing tone to his stressed body language. "Yeah, I'm fine" he sighed seeming depressed. Sango didn't want to leave him like this. Kohaku being upset could lead to him not paying attention while he was around others and getting hurt, or someone else getting hurt.

The jittering ramble of the microphone brought the riders attention to the booth waiting for their names to be called. "Koga, and Lightning at the gate, Sango and Gold Digger you're on deck." If Koga was here she knew one person who she could trust who would be near. The one girl who was mature enough to look after Kohaku and protect him from making any rash actions or losing focus.

"Sango!" Sango turned around to see a delicate looking girl, with dark black hair and brown eyes. She gave off a gentle presence, one that was similar to that of a soothing breeze, or a cool spring morning.

"Kagome!" Despite Sango being next to compete, she couldn't just leave her best friend without a greeting. Although Kagome says she came to see her, Sango knew she may have some ulterior motives for coming. that ulterior motive was most likely Koga.

Koga was a handsome Native American boy, who rode an even better looking stallion that was now competing in the ring. Sango always thought the beginning of their relationship was a bit shaky, considering he broke up with a girl to go out with Kagome. His ex-girlfriend, Ayame, was a feisty red-head that was a well known trick rider in their small-town world. Kagome had little to do with the break up by what Sango recalled, it was only after Koga began to pursue her which left Ayame harassing Kagome in various ways for several weeks.

Sango maneuvered Gold Digger over to Kagome, making a safe but comfortable distance as to ask her a favor. "Would you keep an eye on Kohaku when I go in the ring? He just seems upset and I don't want him getting hurt." Kagome had a cheerful smile on her face, she enjoyed being around small children and even though Kohaku wasn't small she was one of the few people she would allow to be very involved in his life.

Kagome nodded. "Sure, I'll go up and keep him some company." She was indeed a good friend and a good person, sincerity and transparency were two qualities of her that shown through to Sango over the years.

As Kagome went up to the gate, she stepped up on the bottom bar to watch Koga. Her object of affection and his Sorrel Stallion were indeed poetry in motion, taking the poles on effortlessly, taking a time of 25 in the division, which left him in first place.

Koga had tore through the gate giving Lightning a quick command to halt. "Hope that nag of yours can pull it's weight." Koga came up to Sango with a competitive comment, Sango wasn't one to allow anyone have the last word, especially a guy who thought he was all that because he could ride a stallion.

Her Father always said to her 'like rider like horse', Koga and the cocky stallion were the poster children of this statement. They had a relationship just like any pair of people would, you clique with those who held similarities with you. 'Koga and Lightning, Cocky asshole meets cocky asshole.' Sango thought to herself.

"Oh believe me, he can, he might have a little less to pull considering I don't have a big ass ego to saddle him with like some people." A smirk crawled across her face as she took pleasure in her comeback, leaving Koga in a speechless grumble as he rushed his Stallion out of the ring to keep it from losing it's mind over mares and other horses, his ego could at least handle one thing.

Sango eased him before the gate with a gentle push, When the gold tank picked his head up and saw the stretch of poles in front of him, he snorted in excitement and the thought of letting go and being free. Gold Digger tore through the gate, he was ready to tear and rip across the ground, like the thunder he had in his heart that gave a thousand bolts per second. As he made the first turn Sango began to lose her stirrup. Sango left her stirrups down and began to push with her legs and give him more reins. This was her, this was him, together they were a fearless team, giving their hearts and souls in one pattern, this was their all. Sango had made it to the final turn into the home stretch. Sango leaned forward until she was as close to laying flat on her horse as she possibly could.

"Sango and Gold Digger, an impressive 24.95, and they're are in the money in front of Koga and Lightning." Sango grinned triumphantly. Gold Digger even seemed to be pleased with himself, as he threw his head while she pulled him to a stop, reminding him that he had finished what she had asked him to do.

Beating Koga was uplifting, he had a large ego but that accompanied his natural horsemanship. She felt he would be more admirable if he saw gaming events more as a work between horse and rider rather that be so focused on speed and letting all other things go out the window. Barrel racing, pole bending, anything in rodeo was not simply speed, it was also brains, and above all heart.

"My handsome man deserves a break, c'mon Kohaku!" Kohaku clicked to Dobin, following Sango with ease as Kagome caught up and walked up near Sango as they chattered and giggled back to the trailer. Sango and Kohaku tied the horses to the trailer and let them take bites of hay as they sat down near the back doors and began to converse with Kagome.

* * *

Sango and Kagome chattered as they went up to the trailer as Kohaku kept up a pace behind them. Sango was in conversation with Kagome about school, and the horses themselves when Sango turned her head to see another rider coming up the bath almost colliding into her.

"Hey easy!" The rider was a male, he had an long legged paint with striking blue eyes. Sango didn't get a good luck at him, neither did she want too. The guy had just rode into her path and took little concern of the her or her brother.

The light that now shown behind him in the other direction made his face seem more black as the light covered his back and made his face vanish in the dark april night. "Sorry, she's nervous around other mares like the brown one." Sango wondered how he pointed out that she was a mare, you usually have to check. He stood their for a second as the trio continued to move, Kagome had said it was alright, but Sango made no attempt to converse with him. She was agitated when he called her out "Are you the one that beat Koga's time?" Sango turned and gave him a glare, she still couldn't see his face and it was starting to make her feel more vexed as he tried to pester her.

"Yeah." Sango leaned down to pet Gold Digger, proud that he had pulled attention to himself. He was a hard working horse, and he deserved all the praise he got. "What of it?" She sneered this as much as possible, Kagome gave her a look as the venom was spit in the stranger's face. Kohaku rode up alongside Sango, making an attempt to keep Dobin away from the frisky paint.

"I'm just saying, he's tough to beat, so congratulations." Something about his voice made Sango's skin crawl, she was agitated with comments and questions from him. A silence fell and Sango was about ready to ride off when he imposed on her another question. " Is your palomino for sale?" Sango let a slight growl salt her words and she spun off a quick, cutting answer.

"I'd sooner cut off my own leg." After she hissed these words, the paint he sat on began to act up again. Sango had no view of his face but could feel in the air that she had knocked off any chance of him holding a conversation with her.

"Well, he's worth keeping, a little hot. That's okay though, like horse, like rider." The last part of his comment was flirtatious, he had no need to physically touch her, she already felt violated by his verbal confrontation. She watched him ride off, what made her the most angry was the way he proudly carried himself as he caught up with another guy and she could tell they were looking back and having mention of her.

Kagome looked up at her, expecting Sango to say something about the snappy comment he had left her. Sango was left speechless in frustration. The guy was probably just looking to pick up a girl using a poorly pulled together pick up line, as clever as it was, she found it corny and perverse. Sango motion for the group to move forward and ignore the recent interaction.

Whether his words have been a coincidence, or not. The way he said words to her that her Father had said to her years ago made her angry, and disgusted. Going back to the trailer and having access to food too before long would be a blessing. Men always enjoyed taunting her, but she always enjoyed showing them who was boss and watching them walk away like scared dogs with their tails between their legs.

* * *

"They still have half of the Juniors to go and then the Senior division, which has plenty of old timers, then you guys can get ready for dash, so why not get a bite with me and Koga?" Sango had no enjoyment of spending time with Koga, but she would feel rude to refuse her friends invitation.

"Sure!" Sango heartily agreed as did Kohaku, the three began to make their way down. Before Gold Digger was completely out of sight, Sango turned around and saw him looking at her, she swore sometimes that God would let her father keep an eye on her, through that handsome palomino. That handsome, wonderful horse was her guardian angel, and the man who had her heart like none other could.

That horse was her first love, her rock, and all together her best friend.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I posted this before, and reread it, feeling unsatisfied with my work I took it down, and cleaned it up a bit. I made this better, went back, edited, cleaned, and now I'm reposting it. I didn't like the first edit. Also for Koga people, sorry I made him out like a bad guy in this (I like Koga a lot, I just need to play him up like a bit of an ass to everyone beside Inuyasha). So take two I guess?

List of horse terms-

Barrel Racing- A gaming event for Rodeo where you race a horse around three barrels in a clover pattern as fast as possible.

Pole Bending- You have a line of poles, you run up the side, weave down, weave up, and run back down, again this is a speed event.

Fifty yard dash- You go up around a barrel fifty yards away from the starting line and dash back, speed event.

trick rider- I highly suggest you look them up on videos, they're pretty freaking cool. They do acrobatic poses on horses.

Palomino- Horse w/ white mane and gold fur.

Paint- Brown and White horse, ever see Rain from Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron?

Paso Fino- Horse Breed

Gelding- Castrated male horse

Stallion- A horse who still has his manhood

Mare- Female horse

Any questions please ask, also leave reviews please! :)))))


	2. Competitivity

Kohaku was stuffing his mouth with food as Sango and Kagome walked a foot ahead of him chattering away, Kagome grew silent when she laid her eyes on her boyfriend, the thing that made her feel frightened is how constraining it was. There are two kinds of silences when you are in the presence of a lover; the kind where everything in you feels rejuvenated and full of energy as though it could have been the beginning of Spring, and then there is the dreadful kind that is like a faded November sky, the wonder is gone, and no matter how many times you try to convince yourself it's aesthetically pleasing, there's still something that isn't there, and it's seemingly gone forever. "Where you been babe?" Koga pulled Kagome into him with a possessive embracing of the hip as she sat down on a seat next to him. Sango and Kohaku slid onto the rickety wooden bench as Koga caused it to make a noise from the aggressive swipe of Kagome being drawn down to the bench.

Sango turned to Kohaku and made a gagging face as he stuffed his mouth with the fries she had bought "Oh please, you two make me sick" She rolled her eyes at the infatuated couple, swiping her box of fries back from Kohaku. She couldn't count how many guys chased Kagome down, and out of all the guys to pick from, she chose the most obnoxious one. Plenty of girls were after Koga too, but Sango had no doubt it was only due to his visually pleasing appearance; he fit the bill of tall, dark, and handsome, but he also fit the asshole one too.

"You'll find someone, Sango" chirped Kagome in her uplifting voice. Sango turned giving her friend a scoff and smirked. Sango just made a comment due to Kagome and Koga being publicly affectionate, and it coming off as weird to Sango. Though she did at times think of companionship, it wasn't something that heavily weighed on her being. She had her family, and what her Father had left them to manage. On top of that, she had a special guy in her life.

"I have someone, Gold Digger, he's the only man I need in my life" Sango stated this proudly as though he was a trophy wife to be shown to the less fortunate competitors and it was followed by Kohaku's snickering, he had become used to his sister saying this when their Grandparents pushed at her to find a boyfriend or a husband. Kohaku knew she said this due to the fact she never found anyone he made her feel terribly affectionate. Kogame had several boyfriends before, and she had tried to set Sango up with men before, usually by the end of the date his Sister had driven them off by insistent and headstrong. She had always told him she did this because she wanted to keep her distance from them, and that she knew men hate bossy women.

Sango always said she avoided trouble throughout school by not having any relationships at all, she thought there was nothing wrong with never having a serious boyfriend. After all, men gave young women stress which seemed to shorten their lives and make them miserable. Sango sat and watched the rider exit the arena when Koga's voice snapped her out of the subject of interest "But that horse can't please you like and actually man could" he snubbed this in her face.

This was often something she thought of too, most boys were more unpredictable than horses, unpredictable in the way of they would disrespect her with humor intended words like Koga's and continue to be rude to her. Sango always thought it was because of how intimidating she was, a strong willed young woman is threatening, it was easy to assume she could be as insensitive as a male at times. This didn't bother her though, Sango felt that if they cared or wanted her affection bad enough they would have to love that part of her, the part that was created to carry the whole world on her shoulders even when her world was more than they could carry, she wasn't a damsel in distress, she was the knight in shining armor on her horse and no one wanted a girl that was stronger than them, at least that was what she learned. 'Screw them' she thought.

Sango's expression went from dreamy to judgemental when she noticed a familiar horse in the gate. "Entering the Gate is Miroku on Angel" out of the gate came the beautiful mare and the rider that had asked about Gold Digger aided with an aggravating attempt at flirtation with her.

He rode well. For a guy who used a ridiculous pickup-line on a girl, he looked damn good on a horse. "Twenty point five seconds! Miroku and Angel are in the money! Taking first place!" Sango's jaw dropped and her french fries she once had well hid in her mouth now fell out onto her shirt and lap. Kohaku began to cackle and snort and Sango's mess. She was embarrassed as her eyes followed the paint horse and it's rider out of the ring. Who was he? She hadn't seen him around before?

"Kohaku, go make sure the horses are ready! I'm gonna clean up" Sango growled and began to walk off as she said this. She had a vengeful march in her step, Kohaku noticed she was caught off guard by the mystery rider beating her. He wondered if she was going to congratulate him or take the low road and be a sore loser about it. She had to be upset about more than her shirt.

Koga smirked "Hey Sango!-", Kagome gently held his arm and cut him off before he could say anything else to her friend to upset her. Kagome pitied the guy who beat Sango, if anything she would give him a run for his money in something else...like a fight, Kagome hoped she wouldn't fight someone at a public event.

* * *

Sango made her way to the food stand to collect some towels and clean up the cheese from her shirt. She was getting the stain out when she turned around and bumped into someone who spilt their drink on her shirt. Her face went anxious and flustered as she watched it drip down the light grey t-shirt. Stains had built up in the center of it, not that she cared much of her casual appearance but she was agitated with semi-moist feeling of drying cheese sauce and now the dampness of what smelt like beer being all over her. She began to anxiously wipe alcohol off her shirt, if her Grandfather had a whiff of this it could easily end in the way the stern old man put it 'a foot up the ass', considering he would most likely pin it on her despite his high opinion of her, which was something she was not willing to risk. The thought made her scrub with more rapidly, but when she looked up, she saw a face she was not in the mood to see.

"Even while you're scrubbing a drink off your shirt, you're indeed beautiful." Her face snapped back down to her shirt. Not this guy again, Sango didn't want to be a bad sportsmen, otherwise she would have gone off on him for simply having a better time. Though Sango refused to let herself sink so low, as to look like a catty, little girl.

"Excuse me? You beat me, and then hit on me, who the hell does that?!" Sango spit these words out in the way a gun can fire bullets. She was trying her best not to be too venomous, but she felt cornered as the drunk man had a hand on the the wooden post near where she had gathered napkins to remove what now looked like permanent stains on her shirt.

He suggestively raised and eyebrow, and watched her as she kept gaze pulled away from him. Sango tried to pay as little attention as possible to him, as she could feel his eyes leering up and down her body. She grumbled while trying to ignore his violating presence. "To be honest with you, I don't see either how me beating you should be some border before me that would prevent myself from complimenting you." This guy's come-hither tone was making her crawl with anger. "Just because I'm a little better than you at something, shouldn't stop me from getting to know you." Who the hell did he think he was, was he just drunkenly unaware of what he was saying or was he usually this incredibly moronic?

"What the hell was that?" Sango felt some kind of mature restraint snap inside of her, the more he spoke the more her impulsive aggression struggled to show through. His words were now becoming more slurred than before with each sip of his drink. This guy must have a year or so on her, and he somehow managed to get his hands on alcohol, she had immediately given him the title as a scum bag in her head, nothing less could fit the sleaze that was making an obvious attempt at coquetry.

He took a sip of his beer and swallowed, he was still leaning into Sango, making her stare at her own feet and minding the stains that clouded the front of her shirt. "I beat you, I'd still ask you to bear my children." Sango felt violated by the offer of the stranger in front of her that was giving her little to no room, as she could feel and smell warm alcohol tinged breaths hit her in a smothering was.

Sango took a deep breath and huffed. "Listen, that is just flat out creepy and-" She looked him in the face and removed her hand that had given him a slight shove back. Before she had done all that was possible to make any observations of any of his features too closely, now she was caught in eye contact as though she was a deer in headlights.

He had thick, clean-cut, jet-black hair that surrounded an irish complexion. He features on his face were well defined, as they sat on a neck that was laced with small muscles as he cocked his head to the side slightly. His eyes were like those of his horse, an indigo color that made the smirk on his face very apparent, and even pleasing to see. He smiled at her and bit part of his lip. At this Sango was lost for words, and felt that she should turn around. "See something you like?" Sango forgot any need to become violent.

"Uhm..." She was dazed, he belonged in an old movie, where he would have worn a leather black jacket atop a white shirt and drive a motorcycle. If he would have worn a three piece suit he would look like a handsome politician, even with being slightly drunk he was aesthetically gratifying to stare at. Thoughts ran through her head at the speed of milliseconds as she had a good look at his face. Who was she kidding, this guys could put anything and look good in it, he beared no resemblance even in casual clothes to the boys who she passed by at her high school. He was a traditional kind of attractive that had Sango mesmerized.

She had been studying his face with such intent for a long moment when something stroked her rear end, she noticed an almost relieved grin on his face which made all the school girlish admiring of his looks be flattened like a truck in a matter of a seconds. Sango narrowed her eyes, that was the last straw. The brunette pulled her fist back and pushed it forward with momentum planting her fist like a drill into his nose, driving his body to ground. He began to sit back up, when it had hit her. 'If this guy were closer to sober, he wouldn't be as easy to knock to the ground.'

As he sat on the dirt, a crowd circled as he began to pick up on what happened, just then an aggressive presence shoved through the audience of people that had noticed Miroku fall on his posterior with a thud. "Shit, what'd ya do to him?" Sango looked up, an aggravated expression covered the young man's face. He had oddly colored silver hair that was choppily cut to about chin length, and aged scars that wrapped from his right cheek to under his eye, he looked more like what you would see at a rodeo, aside from the coloring of his hair and the wild looking gold eyes.

"I wasn't particularly fond of his advances, so I didn't plan on standing there and letting him grope me because he felt like it!" Sango shot off in the mangy guy's face. She really wasn't sure why she was meant with a sigh from him as he turned to glare at his friend who sat on the ground still and had a dense expression in response. The lecherous flirt looked up at Sango with an almost offended expression, as though he was saying 'my advances? how could one be offended?'

"Miroku, are you drunk?" His gold eyes narrowed at his friend who was planted on the floor as he slipped an arm behind his back to help him up. He stumbled trying to stand upon his feet like a newborn fawn would. Once he managed to get ahold of himself, he steadied strength in his legs.

with bearings together he let out a groan. "I just had two beers." As if he hadn't been previously hit, his friend delivered a solid whack to the head with force.

"We're riding you dumbass! Don't buy anymore, you don't damn need it!" Sango was giggling at this, his friend obviously had a way of keeping the pervert in line.

"When he's drunk he pisses sober women off...a lot." He stopped and glared as his friend made another attempt to get off the ground. "Actually when he's sober he pisses every woman he makes contact with pretty pissy." Sango nodded as she pulled her bearings together. She was about to make her way back to the trailer when she was stopped abruptly.

"You don't ride as half-assed as I've seen other people." The silver haired youth said without hesitation or much else besides his raspy tone of voice. He turned his head to the side, and with a thick hocking noise he spat out saliva that collected in a pile approximately a foot away from where he stood.

Sango made a slightly disgusted face, it wasn't the spitting that made her face twitch in such a manner but it was the disposition he appeared to have. An arrogant,brooding, moody, tough guy. "Thanks." Sango wasn't completely sure as to take his words as a compliment or not.

"We lost our third guy for team penning, you have any experience with cows?".

"Not a ton, but my Dad used to show me a few things about bulldogging." Sango hated bulldogging, team penning didn't make the brunette writhe in her nightmares and wake up with a loss of breath and and screaming as though she was seeing the accident all over again.

"Can your horse catch on quick?" Sango quickly nodded to his question, she would never doubt Gold Diggers ability as horse, a teammate, even a soulmate. The Palomino was as quick-witted as horses came. Yes, he was never around a cow but he could pull a miracle if he wanted too. "Nice, get your horse ready so we can be at the gate in time for the event."

Sango obviously had little choice in what she was going to do. The two friends discussed between themselves how they were going to warm up the horses.

"Shouldn't I at least know who I'm penning with?" Sango snarled as the two were about to walk past her. They stopped and the one who fondled her was about to speak, the only thing he was able to let out was a cry of pain as the other of the two elbowed him in the stomach.

"I'm Inuyasha, and over here is Miroku." Miroku stared with a deviant looking smirk on his face as his friend finished his sentence, his eyes were following her silhouette of her figure again. As attractive as he was, she still found it violating when he visually took her in this way. "What's your name? It was probably on the speakers but I don't pay squat shit attention to them unless I'm on deck." Inuyasha's question still didn't stop Miroku from eying Sango up, she gulped as she felt awkward and simply wanted to give an answer to the question and head back to the trailer.

"Sango, I gotta go warm up now actually." A nervous break in her voice cracked the end of her sentence.

"Same here, we better get a move on." Inuyasha looked over at his friend. Miroku was eying her up and this was probably the reason why she looked as irritated as she did. Inuyasha gave him a slap in the back as he made a motion for them to leave. Miroku walked behind Inuyasha as he made fast paced steps to venture back to the trailer. Miroku occasionally turned to look over his shoulder at Sango to see her returning in the direction of where she had come from.

Sango was on her way back to the trailer and was hustling in both excitement and worry, she had little time to spare and a lot of work to do considering Gold Digger never saw a cow before. She wondered if he would react to the cow the same way she reacted to Miroku, with fear and a skittishness that only came with things that gave you an unknown feeling.

* * *

"Hey Dog-Boy." Inuyasha felt disgusted with this comment, and he knew this voice all too well. "Where's your nag?" He added a chuckled as Inuyasha hatefully glared at him. "Also why isn't your Old man here?" He swore that Koga had been placed on this earth to dig mine shafts under his skin, picking at all the spots that could make him cave in.

"None of your damn business." Inuyasha hissed at Koga. He was tired and needed to go warm up his horse with the little time he was given.

Miroku looked Inuyasha with concern, Koga coming up and taunting him never ended well. Since the three of them were little, Koga and Inuyasha never were able to get along. There were times when him and Inuyasha would accompany Inuyasha's Father and his own to a cattle drive and Koga would show up. Especially if Koga's own father was the trail boss, he would often antagonize Inuyasha as if he had some kind of leadership over him. Nevertheless, a fight would break out between the two and Miroku would often be left to shield himself in the corner in annoyance. He watched the two banter and bicker in front of him, they had gotten in fist fights with each other since they were the age of ten and now they were seventeen and Miroku still thought their rivalry was annoying.

"You still horse whispering?" Koga was only trying to frustrate him more than he already has.

"I never claimed to be a horse whisperer!" Inuyasha let out a slight growl.

"Well, your mother was, and why not carry on the family business?" Inuyasha growled and thought 'how dare this bastard mention my mother.' Miroku caught a glimpse of INuyasha's face and thought quickly.

"Inuyasha, I think we should be on our way. You should tend to your horse." Miroku said this with a sarcastic tone as if to add 'instead of Koga pulling your chain."

Inuyasha snorted, and turned a hateful gaze from Miroku to Koga. "Look, I gotta go, save your smack talk for later." He began to walk away as he heard a feminine voice from behind in Koga's direction.

"Koga, that's not nice you should call him by his name." Koga furrowed his brow at this.

"Dog-boy is what we call Inuyasha, it suits the mut." The girl looked disappointed with Koga. "Kagome, you shouldn't defend trash like that."

Inuyasha let his thoughts wander, and his eyes while following Miroku who was doing his best to not look like he had drank two bottles of beer. He turned and looked at the girl, she looked familiar. 'Kagome, what a pretty name' Inuyasha thought to himself. Her eyes were a familiar warm shade of brown, and her hair had a way of falling on her shoulders that seemed like something that had only once been seen amongst a field of gold in a dream.

"Look out!" Inuyasha, ignored Miroku warning him of a telephone only two feet away. Inuyasha smashed into it. He stood still as he backed up grabbing his throbbing head, he was about to drive his fist into it in frustration if he hadn't thought of the many people passing on trailers and horses and standing only a hundred feet behind him.

"Inuyasha, are you okay?" Miroku turned around to check up on his friend.

"Yeah-" he grunted slightly "I'm fine, let's just pick up the pace. We don't have a lot of time."

* * *

"You can't just enter him as a team penning horse! Sango, he's never been around cattle!" Kohaku could even tell his sister this was a reckless thing to do. Sango yanked herself up into the saddle and looked down as Kohaku moved the halter of Gold Digger who was hitched to the trailer out of the way.

Sango began to back him up He threw his head slightly, acknowledging that their work should be done for the night. He wanted to rest, he didn't want to run anymore. Sango on the other hand was ready to have another try at the arena tonight, and was gung ho and ready to try something she had never done more that once or twice on a different horse.

"Well, this is the place to learn." Sango was too stubborn for her own good. Even though she said nothing, it was easy to see she was challenging someone.

Kohaku crossed his arms and looked at his sister. "Did someone make a comment on you getting second place?" He raised an eyebrow and she began to give him a scowl. "Someone did, didn't they?"

"No, Kohaku I'm trying something new to get more experience as a rider!" She huffed as Gold Digger was now losing any ability to stand still at the sounds of the bellowing livestock up near the pens where the were kept near the arena. Kohaku gave his siter a look of frustration. "Fine, one the guys I'm riding was the one that beat me, and he said he was the better rider and grabbed my ass." Gold Digger stamped impatiently as if he were a child throwing a tantrum.

"You don't have to take every challenge that is thrown at you! Especially one by a guy who sexually harassed you!" Sango rolled her eyes at the words from her younger brother.

"Kohaku I have to go warm up dammit, I don't need your sass!" Sang rode Gold Digger out to an open area to warm him up again. Kohaku picked up his saddle and thought 'if she can try something new, so can I.'

* * *

"You'd be able to ride better if you didn't drink, bastard." Inuyasha sat on his horse as he watched Miroku attempt to 'cowboy up' and swing himself on with continuous falls and his horse growing antsy as she was met with continual kicks in the side of her rear end. As entertaining as it was to watch, eventually Miroku was going to break something if he wasn't careful.

"I'm almost there!" The usual rule that lied between them with drinking was 'after five bad things happen' but of course Miroku would sneak off and ignore the rule only to flirt with women, and consume enough alcohol to make him unsteady on a horse.

"Stop making a damn fool of yourself and mount the right way." Inuyasha began to mumble curse words under his breath. His horse shifted his head slightly to nuzzle his foot. "Thanks for not ruining tonight, Apache." He said in a low whisper. The dappled grey, arabian seem to hold his head still by Inuyasha's foot. The horse's mane was a silvery white like his own hair, and his disposition even matched Inuyasha's. The horse seemed to understand that this was not meant in sarcasm, he could feel Inuyasha's heart weighed down by the absence of his Father, Miroku being slightly unreliable, and even the harsh comments of Koga that in a subtle way affected him.

"Okay, I'm up." Miroku clicked to Angel and moved her forward as to let Inuyasha out of the small space. He was aggravated with Miroku right now, if he did anything stupid to hurt his mare he was liable to beat the hell out of his drunken friend.

"It'd be nice if you didn't run around with girls when you should be paying some attention to your horse." Miroku turned around his words making more sense as he began to concentrate on what he was doing, and leave the tipsy frame of mind.

"It wasn't girls, I found the girl who was riding the palomino but I tried to tell her

"I doubt she'll go on a date with you. You beat her at her own game, grabbed her ass, tried to buy her horse. If I were that girl I would have spit on you sooner than look at you."

"She was beautiful and she hit me in the face." Miroku explained the story as if she had no reason to hit him in the face when she did.

"First of all her name was Sango if you're not too drunk to remember, and you grabbed the girl's ass!" Miroku looked like a child who stuck his hand in the cookie and thoroughly enjoyed the cookie he had ingested. "Do you see what made her hit you? Cause I do."

Miroku smiled and looked at Inuyasha as the approached the gate. "Sango, her name sounds passionate, doesn't it?" When they brought their horses to a halt at the beginning of the narrow dirt path leading up beside the pens Inuyasha caught up and gave Miroku a look.

* * *

Kagome was stunned at how he could be so rude, simply approaching the poor guy and Koga antagonizing him. Obviously Koga knew something about the boy's father that he didn't want to be brought up. All she could do was hold it together, simply because her speaking up would only result in him ignoring what she said. He had been reprimanded for it, and he wouldn't listen.

Koga was walking Kagome back to the seats, she made the outward appearance of being content and complacent. Within her ren rivers of need to deliver justice, she was losing the tolerance she had for Koga mistreating people. Even seeing him speak to Sango recently made her desperately long to see him show compassion to someone who was an outcast or an underdog.

Koga was staring her down with icy eyes that were tainted with distaste. "What's wrong with you?" He looked as though she had done something to wrong him, and this made her feel slightly nervous as her stomach began to tie in knots of confusion and the need to be anywhere but where she was.

"I'm fine, I'm just getting tired." From where they were sitting she saw the riders begin to gather around the gate. Amongst the riders were the two men from about a half hour ago. She heard the bellows of cattle ring out in the arena and the cries of anxious horses ready to go. She often wished that she would have stuck with horses when she was younger.

As a young girl she would spend time at Sango's house taking riding lessons from Sango's Father and some of the the more laid back horses they had at the time. She remembered having trouble climbing into the saddle and how Sango would always slide off her horse to walk over and give Kagome a leg up to be able to straddle the large creature.

When they would go on trail rides she remembered Sango asking her Father if they could race, and him sternly saying 'no' to his smiling, energetic, eight year old daughter. The only thing that changed is Sango was now doing what he had held her from at that age, she was flying across the arena, the horse had become a pair of wings, Kagome never achieved that. As she got older, she became involved between different activities such as gymnastics and cheerleading. If she could, she would learn again

"Koga?"

"Yes, Kagome." He leaned in, expecting to be told of some kind of gratification he would receive for being right about what she was upset about.

"Can you teach me how teach me how to ride? I haven't rode since I was little and I was thinking-" Koga moved back to his previous position and started laughing. Kagome felt angry with him, she never even got to finish what she was saying before he started laughing.

"A girl like you doesn't belong on a horse, especially one like mine." Kagome huffed and crossed her arms hoping to get her way. Without much else he had one more thing to say about the subject. "It just doesn't fit, you with a horse."

Koga's words were like a punch in the stomach. Hard, twisted, and jagged without and texture. Kagome was trying to distract herself when she took notice of 'Dog-boy' as Koga had so insensitively called him.

"What'd you say the white haired guy's name was? Inuyasha?" He was standing behind the gate as he handled his horse who looked rather flighty. A tall, long legged dapple grey threw his head and pranced at the sound of bellowing cows. If her memory served her correctly, this was an arabian. Sango had never owned one, but the two would often look at horse book when they were children and this would be a breed typically seen amongst the childhood literature.

Koga felt surprised she'd ask, he figured she was wound up about him telling her she couldn't ride. "Yeah, why do you care?" He was eying his girlfriend as she watched Inuyasha handle his horse. In many aspects Koga thought he resembled his horse. White hair, same deranged look in the eyes, but most of all was the attitude. That horse wasn't made to be a cutting horse, but yet he was, a good cutting horse at that. Inuyasha didn't have any personality traits that made him look like a horse whisperer, yet he was one, a talented one.

Team penning, Koga at times missed trying it for fun with Inuyasha and Miroku. Tai, Inuyasha's Father now rode as a third member of the team, but he failed to make it due to working and probably going to a bar. Koga was surprised to see a girl meet the up with Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Is that Sango?!" Kagome was wide-eyed in the direction she was focused. Koga paid no mind to this. Thirty cattle against three riders, nevertheless this was always interesting to see. For Koga he was rooting for the trio to fail.

"Looks like her, big-assed quarter horse and all." Kagome shot her boyfriend a glare.

"Oh I think they're going next." Koga made a growling noise in displeasure of her words as he slipped his arm around. "They're lining up." Kagome bounced as she slid out of his grip. She noticed her friend but she also had just wanted her boyfriend to let her go, and not just physically at this point.

Sango rode up into the gate, peering around at colleagues to see if they were prepared to go. She fell silent as she turned to see Miroku already looking at her. Avoiding his gaze she exchanged glances with Inuyasha to say ready, it went down the line as he did the same to Miroku and back to her.

She wasn't prepared for what would happen when those gates slammed open. When that bell rang it would let out thirty cows to scatter their way all over the arena, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her blood rushing with adrenaline. She knew this feeling.

The gate slammed open, and a bell rung and cried through the calls of livestock and the consistent drumming of her heart.

* * *

Authors notes: (I'm using wiki definitions now because I think mine are not terribly informative.)

Team penning- a western equestrian sport that evolved from the common ranch work of separating cattle into pens for branding, doctoring, or transport

Bull Dogging-wrestle (a steer) to the ground by holding its horns and twisting its neck.


	3. Accidents happen

Sango exited the ring and felt her stomach twinge, she wasn't displeased with herself, but she wasn't pleased either. She hadn't done anything with cows in years, and this was her going off of very little knowledge that had sat in her head from her Father, that was given to her ages ago.

"You know how I said you didn't suck at riding and you were better than most of the others?" Inuyasha questioned as they rode out of the ring from the ninety seconds that seemed like an eternity.

"Yeah, I recall that." Sango spoke flatly out of exhaustion. She knew very little of Inuyasha personally. She recalled seeing his name, and even a glimpse of a similar face in the paper several years ago. It seemed as though he was on the verge of a comforting anecdote or a harsh insult at the moment.

"I take back what I said earlier, you're freaking sucky." A harsh insult it was, as she felt ready to hit the guy in the face with all her might, for the second time that night, someone had made a negative remark about her riding and this proded under her skin with a burrowing fire that had lodged itself deep in her stomach. All she wanted was to scream in his face that he was wrong, but part of her argued how bad of an idea it was to put her and Gold Digger in such a fresh situation.

"Well get this jackass, This is my first time working with cattle in a long time, and more importantly my horses first time working around cows!" Sango wanted to have the last word as she began to ride away, but sadly she was arguing with someone whose personality stood with her on her end of the spectrum. Competitive, with eyes set on the prize, she had just cost him the prize.

"Well, if you were a good horsemen of any kind you would have thought of that! You cost us the damn money!" Sango's patience had vanished, she used it all in the ring to coax Gold Digger up the proximity of the jittering cows. She had none left to spend on Inuyasha and his nasty comments, she had enough of this for the night.

"I'm a damn good horsemen, I just don't know a ton about cows you asshole! Take your shitty attitude and complaints and tell them to someone else!" Inuyasha looked more agitated than before. He was about to retort with another comment, but Sango had pushed Gold Digger into a canter before he had the chance too.

Inuyasha turned to Miroku to see him look slightly disappointed at her leaving. "Well Miroku, I don't think she'll talk to you or me again." He looked at Inuyasha and then at Sango riding off down the narrow dirt path beside the large livestock pens with the muscular golden horse that may be the only thing able to uphold that fiery attitude and pride. He had to admit, even though she wasn't phenomenal her first time at doing something, that woman's ambition was inspiring. The entire time she was competing, he saw her doing what she could to take commands and keep a fast pace.

"That is the first girl I have taken legit interest and you opened your big mouth and-" Inuyasha was giving his friend a look of agitation, he couldn't believe Miroku was trying to argue this even after he got drunk and asked the girl to bear his children.

"Hey! You didn't need my help. That girl thought you were shit from the moment you slithered around her and asked to buy her horse. I don't think she took well to that." Inuyasha smirked, feeling as though he had made a point that Miroku would refrain from arguing. "Besides you knew her for maybe an hour."

Miroku was never one to yell, or lose patience for that matter, but he felt as though Inuyasha had interfered and ruined any chance he would have of that girl giving him the time of day ever again. "Inuyasha, just stop talking. I get it, it shouldn't be a big deal."

Inuyasha looked at Miroku in confusion as he heard passive-aggressiveness in his voice as he silenced himself and wore a gentle scowl that masked his face in a tone of discomfort. He rode ahead of Inuyasha keeping a few foot distance.

There was a sliver of pity for Miroku in his gut, the guy hadn't had any good relationships in his life. To think of it, after the first one he had, Miroku had begun to sleep around a few years ago, his bad habit tapered off only recently. It was a shame, how hopeful the guy was and how he always seemed to lack an affection he wanted so badly and made poor decisions to receive.

* * *

Miroku and Inuyasha rode back to the trailer in silence, Miroku would have continued in the direction of his friend until he looked off to the side to see Sango walking in a nearby open space with Gold Digger allowing him to graze, holding his lead rope and resting against his untacked back. She was in a daze, petting her horse and speaking to it until she noticed Miroku, she met his eyes with a look of disgust.

Miroku felt a fist drive into his shoulder that almost knocked him off his horse. "Go talk to her." He glared at his friend. "You're gonna bitch about it if ya don't." Inuyasha was giving him the stink eye. Miroku sighed and rode towards the girl as Inuyasha rode off in the direction of their trailer.

"Take a picture it lasts longer." She looked back at her horse, hoping Miroku would vanish into thin air. She had no need to see him, or hear anything he had to say. It had been a rough night and she wasn't even sure where Kohaku had rode Dobin off too at this point in the night, and she would need to find him before the end of the night.

Miroku sighed "Sango, please hear me out." he was trying to be as charming and charismatic as he could be, becoming aware this would have no effect with Sango as it did with other girls. She was nothing less than a fortress, a tall defensive fortress that only saw his advances as a threat.

"If it's the bullshit that came out of your mouth when you were tipsy then I don't wanna hear it." She wouldn't even look at him. He wanted a connection, and emotional feeling that he could share with her. Not just a wall she put up to keep him and the rest of the world out, and add unneeded frustration. Her voice broke the stillness. "But go on." This was better luck than he expected.

"I made a bad first impression." His voice was calm and allowed an air of silence to fall between the two.

"You bet you did." She sneered. Miroku had lost his temper.

Miroku's ego shrunk a few inches, her attention was still directed towards the horse. "I'm sorry I insulted your riding, and I also apologize for Inuyasha's behavior." Sango looked at him without warmth, at least he had her attention now."I was wondering if you'd like to go riding sometime."

"I go riding a lot of the time." Miroku could feel her eyes cutting him into pieces.

"No, let me rephrase that." His embarrassment was apparent, he felt like a bumbling idiot and she was looking at him like he was one. "Would you like to go riding with me?"

Sango stopped in disbelief, was he asking her on a date? She was feeling a confiction between disgusted and flattered until she heard a deafening yell coming from the ring in the other direction. What event was going on? Then it her hard when she realized the familiarity of the cry, it was Kohaku. Bull Dogging, she didn't want to remember anything from the night of the accident. Now to her negligence her brother was in danger.

"Kohaku!" Sango hopped up on Gold Digger's bareback, and began to rush her horse's speed in desperate need of what was happening to her brother.

"I'm coming with you." Sango turned to see Miroku pushing his horse up next to her's.

Sango frowned. "I don't need your help!" Miroku was persistent, she'd give him credit for that quality.

"Yeah but I'm offering it, so take it." Miroku had taken the last words, Sango had no other retaliations to throw at him, this was a first. Her focus had to be on Kohaku though, she was praying with every hoof-beat that nothing too serious had happened and he would be okay. Concern rushed over her at the thought of a fatal incident and the loss of another family member.

* * *

A large crowd surrounded the gate as a larger man had Kohaku flung over his shoulders like a doll. Sango was about to scream when she saw this, but her cry of pain vanished when she saw her brother sat down on the ground as she began to relax. The minimal feeling of rest left her when she saw Kohaku clutching his side as it bled out into his t-shirt.

Gold digger threw his head around as he was pushed forward through the crowd. "Let me through I'm his sister!" Sango screamed. Miroku cleared the area for her to help the unsettled young woman make her way to her brother. Sango dismounted her horse and knelt on the ground, helping Kohaku to sit up. She looked at his face as he squinched his eyes with a groan of pain. She removed her hand from where it was to see blood covering the palm in a thin, apparent, damp layer. Her heart had skipped several beats as her attention quickly went from her own hand to Kohaku. "What happened?! How did this happen?" Sango was frantic and couldn't think straight. Nothing around her made sense right now, all she could remember was the accident that had haunted her dreams since it happened those five years ago.

* * *

" _You think dads gonna be in the money this time?"_

Sango had just turned thirteen at the time, no older than Kohaku in the present day. Her Grandfather had decided to sit with her and her brother that cool and crisp September night at a local rodeo ground. Her Grandmother had gone off to work the stands as a volunteer.

" _If he's got his shit together he wil."_

She remembered that reassuring look she received from her Grandfather as her and Kohaku watched their Father lineup in gates that sat on either side of the penned steer. His partner was not familiar to Sango, mid length black hair that fell to his shoulders and a goatee, Sango immediately visualized him as Satan from all the biblical stories her Grandparents had told her. Even from where they sat the atmosphere had changed since she had caught sight of him, the vibe she received from the sight of him was much different than that of her own Father's.

When the unknown partner nodded at her Father as though they were ready Kohaku lit up in a childish elation at the sight of his Cowboy Father about to race out of the Gate.

" _Sango, Grandpa, I want to be like Dad!"_

Sango was relieved to hear these words, but a matter of ten seconds would change those words entirely, a matter of five years would twist those words into a dark distorted memory that would relive itself repeatedly in her nightmares. When looked over to see her Father grabbing a hold of the steer, his partner began to pull away, causing the steer to drag him across the dusty ground of the arena.

Bellowing echoed across as the deep cries of agony were now beginning to be mixed with the low bell tones of the cattle. Sango's heart sank in her chest as she watched her Father be driven to the ground and brutally have a horn driven through his side. The lightly tan colored dirt was now turning a crimson shade of red as it soaked the area he lie upon.

" _And Ren is still trying to fight that steer!"_

Sango let the vision flash as she thought of him putting up a fight until the very end when he was rushed to the ER. The last words she remembered of that late, dark night was those of the Doctor. It was a deafening scream that had dropped the curtain that made her life have an uncontainable darkness that lingered in the depths of her being.

" _I'm sorry to tell you this...but he passed away this morning at three am."_

Often Sango would have nightmares of the incident, when it occurred she always saw her Father in the dream. There were more haunting visions though of the incident happening to Kohaku. Sango had done all she could to protect and prevent that. These feeble nightmares, and ingrained memories had drowned her in the chaoticness of the situation and the blood dripping from Kohaku's side.

Though it felt as though she was coming up to air as Kohaku's voice broke through the masking anxiety of the situation.

* * *

"Calm Down, Sango. I got horned by a steer." Kohaku was breathing heavily, and would occasionally grunt in pain and grasp his bleeding wound. He needed medical attention, Sango was screaming for someone to call an ambulance and she became more filled with worry and panic than she had ever been.

What could have encouraged him to do this? Who could have rode with him?

"Do you even hear yourself?! You were bulldogging, I told you time and time again-" Miroku dismounted and sat down, putting his arm around Sango's shoulder. It was steady and without movement, lacking any kind of sexual motivation in the firm grasp of consolation.

She couldn't speak, she had lost all ability to think as she had during the accident, there were no organized thoughts, only panic and epiphanies of a Kohaku whose fate would be very much like that of their Father's.

Miroku looked at Sango. Her eyes were fear as her breathing became unsteady and gasps of panicky breaths escaped her as she bickered with her brother over the danger that he had put himself in, Miroku knew impulsive tears and frustration would only take minutes off the boy's life. "Kohaku, I'm going to get you medical attention but first I'm going to get you out of this crowd." He slid his arms around Kohaku's thin figure to lift him up and move him from the ground. "I need you to try and be calm right now, the more anxious you become the more painful it will feel." He mounted his horse then pulled Kohaku on behind him, and found a way to get through the crowd. He turned and yelled to Sango. "Sango, take his horse and your horse back to the trailer, I'll get him some help!"

Sango wasn't pleased with the fact she was taking orders from a stranger about Kohaku's health, this was her family not Miroku's, but it seemed as though she had no other choice, this was a situation in which doing things her way could cost her brother's life.

To see him suffer the same way her Father had set her reeling, and she felt there was no one to blame but herself, she shouldn't have left him alone.

* * *

Kohaku was lying in a tent where he was now receiving medical attention. As he lay on a small cot, Miroku sat next to him keeping him company. He wondered though what had driven the adolescent to do something so extreme. Though he was related to the girl who had never roped and made a decent attempt at it anyways, no wonder this kid was so gutsy.

"So your name's Kohaku, correct?" Miroku decided to make an attempt at making small talk. He looked over Kohaku and looked at the features that resembled Sango's; The dark brown eyes that were the same color as the thick hair that had been received from their genes, and skin that had been tanned slightly, not to the point of being brown but to the point where you could tell they both spent a lot of time outside. The only difference was the child like freckles he bore on his face, and the warm look that contrasted from that of the aloof look Sango would wear to cut people.

"Yeah, you're the guy that beat Sango, huh?" The young boy had a grin on his face, Miroku didn't expect him to bring it up. He would be transparent though and allow to to be a subject of conversation. The girl seemed close to her brother, and if there was one was to make himself look like a redeemable person, it would be to gain Kohaku's approval.

"I guess she's pretty competitive?" Miroku leaned back in the lawn chair he sat in. Kohaku sat up as bandages wrapped around his side that bound the wound. Miroku was about to get up to make sure he was alright, but he held a hand out to motion that he was fine. He exhaled out as he adjusted himself in the small cot making himself more comfortable.

"You don't know the half of it." Kohaku and Miroku laughed for a moment, until a silence fell upon them. Miroku had to know, or rather confirm who had convinced him to bulldog, there was only one person he knew who could make jumping off a horse and wrestling a steer sound enticing in any manner.

"What made you want to try bulldogging without knowing exactly what you were doing, not a lot of people get horned by a steer and have as much fortune as you have." Miroku leaned back in the chair, out of all the people Inuyasha could pick to bulldog with, he pulled a clueless little boy out of the crowd. Also he wondered what would make a child trust Inuyasha without second thought.

* * *

"The little runt should have been more careful." Koga commented as he drank his beer and turned dazed eye's at Kagome, they sat down at a table in a nearby pavilion. People were all over the tables, and the smell of pizza, hot dogs and other fast foods filled the little area, along with the scent of beer that hit the nostrils with an almost numbing effect. Koga had always taken well to places with the smell of beer. Kagome had always thought it was alluring to him, maybe the musty fumes and cold drink running down his throat brought him some form of a life he may want more than this one.

After witnessing the accident, Kagome had felt distraught as to see Kohaku so injured. "Well I don't think he could really help-" Koga cut his girlfriend off without much consideration. Kagome was agitated with this, but she had grown stupefied to Koga's way of carrying out conversations.

"He could have, Kagome. Believe me when I say every accident can be avoided if a person knows what they're doing and I think that he indeed did not. A twelve year old boy shouldn't bulldog without knowing what he's doing, riding a horse and riding a horse and dealing with cows are two different things. You don't understand this so I wouldn't make much more comment if I were you." Kagome felt insulted but more so disgusted with the resounding thought that she was dating a sociopath, someone who lacked pity or remorse for others in general. "His sister's the same way; bullheaded as all hell, she's kinda a bitch too."

As Koga said these words he didn't realize about ten feet away was Inuyasha drinking a beer and eavesdropping. With every word Koga said, Inuyasha wanted to throw the guy into a wall, and let him know the opinion of the world he so mistakenly assumed wished to hear his own.

Ever since they were children, Inuyasha had memories of Koga telling him he knew nothing, he came off as an opinionated know-it-all, who thought his say was needed on everything. Inuyasha and him had their fair share of horseplay and scuffles as children, but to have one as almost an adult would be rewarding, especially aided with the thought of senselessly clobbering wiseass to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Kagome had a nervous sound to her voice. Inuyasha caught a glimpse of the attractive young girl as she began to apologize. She looked familiar, but was more so desirable, and that's probably why she was with Koga. Girl's had flocked around Koga since early adolescent years. As much as Inuyasha hated to admit it, Koga had dated plenty of striking girls, he had luck with women even long before Miroku had become that way and learned the art of charm and flirtation. Inuyasha had not been gifted with either of these traits.

"You just what?!" Koga snapped back at Kagome fast, drunk and obviously having a problem with her tone. She flinched and moved back in her seat and after looking scared for several seconds, she had a look of rage on her face. Inuyasha noticed this expression, the way she looked when stirred with frustration seemed like a distant memory.

"I just think that he got hurt, and accidents happen! Yes, maybe what Kohaku did was reckless, but that doesn't change the fact that he needed help and all you did was stand there in the front of the crowd and do nothing! Do you understand that he's a timid twelve year old boy, He is not as experienced as you!" Kagome spit these words out like fire, burning bridges in preparation to light a better way of escape. She had grown disgusted with his behavior and it was either she stand up for herself or sink deeper into a suppressed frustration.

Inuyasha grinned and chugged his drink from the other end of the table, grinning at the fact Koga was told off by the young woman. Not a thing in this world could be better than the sight he was seeing right now. He still wasn't sure where he saw the pretty, raven haired girl. She looked like someone he used to know, then it hit him as he looked up and saw Koga shoving the girl against the wall, violently and watching her fall. Everything in him crashed as his stomach came to a boil and flipped to awaken rage all in one sliver of a moment.

"What the hell is your freaking problem!?" Inuyasha stood up and shouted across the table. Koga turned his icy blue eyes towards the incensed figure the direction of where the words had come from. A shock came over him at the resurgence towards him that he had not even asked for. A tension charged the air as he began to make his way towards the other male.

Koga's voice dropped an octave as though he was scolding a misbehaved child, or the reprimand for a horse's bad behavior. "I don't know Dog-boy, you got one?!" He was drunk and irate.

Inuyasha usually did not like to insert himself where he didn't belong but if there was one thing that made him mad it was seeing an abusive asshole physically harm a woman. "Yeah I do, who the hell told you that you could hit a girl?!" Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with slightly watered eyes as she stood to her feet. "You know she's right, she was only sticking up for the kid since you were being such as asshole about the fact he got horned!"

"That's real funny! But I wasn't the dumbass that got the kid hurt!" Koga grinned as he stood above Inuyasha, knowing his remark would vex the bulldogger more than he already was.

"Shut the hell up! This wasn't about me, this was about you pushing your poor girlfriend because she has a damn opinion!" The two were now standing up and waving hands as their voices escalated.

Inuyasha and Koga were shouting. Inuyasha began to shove Koga backwards towards a post where took a handful of front material, gaining a sturdy grip on Koga as he continued to holler about Koga's treatment of women. Koga smirked for minute before landing a solid right hook into Inuyasha's face as he fell backwards taking a hold of his face before regaining his balance and running towards Koga to grasp him in a chokehold, Koga began to fight the strong grip around his neck, dragging Inuyasha to the floor with the force of his weight. Before long they stood up and started throwing punches at one another. The two were engaged in a fight inside the pavilion, knocking beers off the table and crashing into seats, tables, and trash cans.

Kagome backed out of the way with other bystanders as they began to move from their table at the sound of smashing glass with the throttle of the two men wielding each other across tables and against walls. At this point anyone was afraid to get between them. It seemed like if the fight continued that there would be bloodshed.

Koga drove his fist right into Inuyasha's nose, as painful as it looked, it didn't seem to affect him at all. He still had all his consciousness, and focus, when he he took a swing at Koga's gut he hit and watched him fall to the floor in anguish.

"You're no better than rat piss." Inuyasha stared down at Koga, with rage filling his eyes as the fire of his anger engulfed his stomach like the inside of a volcano. "Assholes like you don't deserve girls like her, maybe if you treat her better she wouldn't be yellin' at you for making a dick of yourself!" With this statement Inuyasha turned to the scared Kagome standing several feet away, "And you need to learn how to have respect for yourself, what're you doing with a guy like that! He's shit, you know that! Complete One hundred and fifty percent shit! If he wasn't he wouldn't be pushing you around like that when you speak up!" Inuyasha left the pavilion and walked off.

Kagome watched him, the white hair that stuck out from under a baseball cap. Inuyasha was it? She wasn't sure what to think of him, he had his own place in the world, that was for sure.

Before long he knew Sango was going to hunt him down, and probably drain whatever life he had left in him with a beating, she would probably become very defensive if her brother was seriously injured. There was a singular reason Inuyasha had let Kohaku join him on such a dangerous event. He saw himself in Kohaku, the same wide eyed look he had when he saw his own Father chase steers. This was the first time someone had acted like they looked up to him in anyway.

 _Hey, do you bulldog?_

He just ventured up to Inuyasha. He held a resemblance to Sango, the girl he just team penned with.

 _Yeah. I gotta get moving kid, they ain't gonna wait on me._

The young boy looked disappointed as Inuyasha tried to swallow his pity and walk Apache forward.

 _Alright, someday I want be as good as it as my Dad was._

Inuyasha paused. The key word in his sentence, 'was', the way he said it wasn't just a retired 'was', this 'was' said _my father was alive but now isn't._

 _How good are you?_

He laughed in reaction to Inuyasha's words.

 _I haven't even tried it, My sister won't let me._

This girl had just made him lose money, already having a grudge towards her, he felt as though she was holding her brother back from a whole new experience.

 _Well this will be your first, go get your horse._

He had no intention of hurting Kohaku, but he hadn't listened when he gave Kohaku a lecture about timing. Also, Inuyasha had never experienced accidents where he felt as though he had brushed the bracing arms of death. Death no longer scared him from the back of the horse. It scared him from the hands of mankind. Man hands out death in many forms; hallucinogens, emptiness, and the most popular was the pining for the love of another person.

Inuyasha felt his heart sink in his chest. It was never too long from the last moment he thought of her, but always much longer than the last moment he had spent with her. He had walked almost back to the trailer when he stopped and took in the star painted sky above him. Koga's girlfriend, the face had shown as clearly in his mind as the stars that shown in the sky. With gold eyes turned to skies he said to himself "Damn, she looks a lot like Kikyo."


	4. Late Nights

"Why would you abduct my kid brother and make him do this?! Oh wait I can answer this, you were being a selfish dick and only wanted to look good compared to Kohaku's half assed effort!" Sango's voice was starting to become more high pitched as she grew more emotional over the argument. Inuyasha did not make the best first impression on her, and as the night went on she only found him more disgusting.

Kohaku sighed at his sister's comment but perked up with Inuyasha's snappy retort. "Listen, I wasn't trying to do anything like that, the kid wanted to do the damn event!" Inuyasha didn't want to be arguing with the small, pistol of a female. He wished he would have just stayed at the trailer instead of coming to see if Kohaku was alright, only to end up dealing with a vicious Sango.

Miroku sat in the chair next to Kohaku as he pulled a hoodie over his head while being careful about the wound. Inuyasha had come into the tent covered with bruises and blood stains, despite this he seemed fully functionable though. Miroku hadn't even bothered to question him if he looked the way he did due to a disagreement with someone since Sango had just about bit his head off the minute he came in the tent.

Kohaku had explained what had happened to Sango several minutes before Inuyasha had made his way in. Before his entrance Sango was hugging Kohaku and crying, saying repeatedly how she never wanted him to do something like this again. The sobbing ended with the entrance of the defaced ruffian.

Sango gave a small snarl towards her adversary with silvery white hair. "I don't believe that I-" Miroku quickly cut her off in an attempt to get Inuyasha out of the tent and away from the possibility of him having any more battles tonight, verbal or physical, his disagreements could easily get them into more trouble than either wanted.

"Inuyasha, we really should be heading back to the trailer and leaving now." Inuyasha turned to let Miroku's blue eyes meet his gold ones. "Everyone is pulling out of here. We really should leave." Inuyasha glared at Sango and began to make his way out of the tent. Miroku trailed behind him slowly as Sango went to help Kohaku up.

They made it about twenty feet out of the tent when Miroku felt nervous. What if he never saw this girl again? "Inuyasha, I think I dropped my wallet in the tent." His companion who was several steps ahead of him turned around with an aggravated look on his face.

A glare met Miroku's eyes. "Well dumbass, go get it. I ain't waitin' on ya'." Inuyasha turned around and kept walking forward. Miroku smirked as he watched Inuyasha continue in the opposite direction towards the location of the trailer.

* * *

"Kohaku, you're a smart boy. How could you be so irresponsible to pull a stunt like that?" Kohaku groaned in frustration at Sango's over protective nature. For once he wanted to prove to her, and most of all himself that he wasn't just a defenseless adolescent who depended on his sister for every aspect of his life.

A sigh was let out as Sango helped her brother stand up. "Sango, I wanted to.." Kohaku had stopped midsentence with the sight of her eyes were terror-struck due to his injury, she turned her head as a familiar face came from the opening of the tent.

Sango tensed up immediately. "What do you want?" Her voice was stern but lacked the venom it had originally carried with it. Miroku looked nervous, but seemed to shed the cautious external tension that filled the air when he saw that her eyes bore a warmth to them that they had lacked before Kohaku had taken a horn to his side.

Miroku walked towards her as she kept her eyes on him as he moved. He stopped in front of her, she was short in height, and had a mob of dark brown hair that fell all over her shoulders and extended down below her breasts, with brown eyes that were as captivating as the earth that built mountains that only lined the big sky that seemed so distant.

"I just came back too..." it was obvious to her he wanted to finish their discussion from earlier, she had a raised eyebrow and looked as though she was ready to cut whatever he had to say in pieces.

"He came to help you get me back to the truck."

Kohaku was a life saver. He grinned at Miroku as the girl had a look of distaste on her face. Miroku walked over to help him up when he tossed his pile of clothes into Miroku's arms. Sango gave Miroku a glare as Kohaku began to walk out of the tent with a grip on his side.

"Kohaku, don't you want help?" Miroku asked while he felt as though the words were obviously not true due to Kohaku's teasing grin.

"Only with carrying shit!"

Sango looked as though he had just wet his pants like a small child. "Kohaku, language!" Miroku put his arm around her and walked her out of the tent, several seconds later she removed it and pushed it back to his side as they trailed behind Kohaku who was having no trouble walking in jeans and a clean t-shirt.

* * *

Miroku latched the back bar of the trailer with a heavy slamming that made everything all the more silent as Sango closed the other door. Her petite figure leaned against the door making sure it was completely shut. She turned around and made her way to the driver's seat as Miroku followed her.

"You from around these parts?" Miroku mused to her as she hopped up in the elevated seat. For a small girl, Sango had no problem with driving a fairly large vehicle. She was looking over at Kohaku to make sure he was sitting comfortably in shotgun, his injured side was propped up against a flannel blanket. 'Fearless, fiery, what a woman' Miroku thought.

"Knock off the act cowboy, you look like too much of a rich bitch to talk like that." Miroku raise an eyebrow thinking 'Passionate and honest, what's not to like?' Sango felt around her big jean coat for her keys to her truck, she bit her lip in frustration. A habit that she usually disregarded as normal and small caused Miroku to stare in admiration of the girl and her strange little quirk that had come out of her focus.

Sango pulled the keys out of one of the pockets and smirked while staring at them. "Okay, but seriously you live around the area?" Miroku awaited a snappy comment to his question. If anything the fixation of his interest seemed to be filled to the brim with snarky comments and sassy retorts.

"Yeah, I do, about nine miles north of here." The absence of spirited tone in her words was different, it made her voice sound mature and not as irate."How about yourself?" Miroku looked up to see her dark brown eyes looking into him, the cold, icey, hateful focus that had been directed towards him earlier had now vanished with the closeness of their conversation.

"Oh, I live around 5 miles south, I'm pretty close to the area." Her smile was inviting to him, but he felt a swift kick coming from behind those kind words. With the way her lips smirked across her face gave her the look of a happy child, maybe not out of immaturity but some kind of feral innocence. The April night wind picked up her hair and blew the thick strands of her ponytail to a resting point where they were scattered across her shoulder. She looked like a mustang, the spirited breed was free and did as they pleased across their domain. Her brown eyes gave off the same aura of strong will that was felt from one of the wild horses.

Miroku remembered what he had to do. He had never received a response earlier on if she even wanted to see him again, let alone go on a date with him. He figured he could let it slide and regret it later, or he had the option of counting to three and letting the question out. Miroku swallowed and felt anxiety boil in his stomach as he let the three numbers pass in his head before opening his mouth and letting the question out. "So I never got to finish asking earlier if you wanted to go riding sometime."

Sango's expression went from an intrigued smirk to an awkward direction of focus away from him and then back. "You mean like a date?" She sighed slightly. He wasn't sure if she was flattered by his offer or if he had crossed some sort of border that invaded her comfort zone.

"I'm sorry, but I don't do dates, I just-" Miroku's heart sank in his chest at the sound of rejection from her.

"She wants to go, she'll see you after she's done with school on Wednesday." Kohaku leaned forward towards Miroku to interject. He looked over toward his sister as her arm rested on the window, she had the expression of embarrassment and on his face was the expression of a younger sibling who had caught onto something his elder sister did not want him to catch onto.

"Sango,I-" Miroku was going to be polite and leave when his sentence was cut off.

"Fine, I'll go." Sango's sharp tone cut off Miroku as her eyes shifted back to Kohaku with distaste.

"Alright, so I'll see you on Wednesday, you can bring your horse, or you can ride one of ours." Miroku thoughts quickly centered back to the truck, where an impatient Inuyasha would probably be waiting for him with a scowl and a rude comment. "I have to go back to the truck, Inuyasha's going to be in a bad mood." Miroku looked awkward for a moment, as he stuck his hands in his pants pocket. "Alright, so I'll seeya!" He turned around and ran of into the midst of cars and trailers.

Sango turned to Kohaku and raised her eyebrows in shock. "You're kidding me."

"I helped you, you like him." Kohaku sat in his seat with a smug expression on his face. For a teenage boy who had just been horned by a bull, he was pretty cocky at the moment.

"Where the hell did you get that?!" The words spat out as Sango's face turned shades of red, Kohaku began to snicker at her as she ran her hand through the choppy brown bangs that stuck to her forehead.

"The way you looked at him when he rode, you seemed taken with him." Sango buried her face in her hands as Kohaku adjusted himself and the blanket to a comfortable position.

"Only because he beat me, I won't see him again, and he didn't give me a-" Sango was interrupted with a hand jutting through her open side window, nearly giving her a heart attack.

"Where are my manners? I didn't give you my cell phone number, or directions, but please call so I can tell you where I live." Miroku remembered when he was at the truck that he forgot to give the girl his cellphone number so she could speak to him. Sango shot a glare at her brother as she took the phone number with great intensity. "Have a nice night." Miroku turned and ran the other way.

"Your buddies gonna be pissed!" Sango stepped out of the truck, silhouette in the headlight, cradled by the cool, still April night. Her messy hair swung back and forth from a slight breeze. This framed her very being, her light jean jacket sagged on her shoulders, only making her look strong and rugged like a woman of her disposition should look.

"He always is!" He called back as he was a fair distance from the truck. The headlights lit up his features as he wore a happy smile. As he continued in the other direction his attention was dancing between the way he was walking and Sango leaning against the car.

"I bet..." Sango whispered with a smile, she was indeed happy too. She watched him shove his hands into his pockets again and continue into the distance, a handsome, broad shouldered silhouette disappeared amongst trucks and trailers. Sango was completely infatuated with the aesthetic that was before her.

"You're totally staring at his ass." Kohaku had a tone that was only meant to provoke his sister.

Sango turned her head to Kohaku with the look the scowl that usually covered her face. "When we get back home, you're in trouble!" She scolded.

"You just-" For once this night she cut Kohaku off.

"You just almost got yourself killed tonight, and if it wasn't for that guy-"

"You mean Miroku?" Kohaku cocked with a grin.

"Yes, he saved you, if it wasn't for him coming to your rescue and getting you medical attention, and while waiting, taking care of you himself, you would have died!" Sango was frustrated. "Also you still didn't tell me what was wrong after you and Dobin finished the event you were 'suppose' to be in."

"I just didn't do well, and I was angry that we had a slow time." Sango slammed her head against the steering wheel and growled.

"You show to have fun, if you lose it's not the end of the world, you're gonna be okay." Kohaku glared at his sister as she started the car. The inside of the vehicle had lacked words. Sango knew he was growing which was aided with him having his own ambitions, and ambition of a young boy were often reckless. This reckless ambition in Kohaku's case was to bulldog like his father once had done.

* * *

It was 11:59 PM and Kohaku had dozed off for the ride home as he had cushioned himself in the blanket. Sango would occasionally glance at him. Despite her actions, she knew she was no mother to him. Still, she couldn't help the way she acted. He was her brother, her younger more vulnerable brother, who she felt needed her overall guidance. The thought of her brother doing something as dangerous as bulldogging made her worry, especially after what had happened to their father. Kohaku awoke with the stop of the truck in the gravel driveway and broke the silence with a half-asleep, hushed tone.

"You need this."

"What?" Sango didn't understand what he was talking about, she was hoping he would talk about his sudden need to bulldog instead of something involving her.

"You know what, this guy hanging around you. You're really cautious about men, but this guy is different, I can tell."

"After Wednesday I'll probably never talk to him again, most 'guys' are bad, you can't tell if they're a diamond in the rough, or just a piece of shit." Sango walked to the other side of the car in silence to help Kohaku out and into the house. It was late and she figured she would have him sleep on the couch incase he needed anything and she would sleep in the chair that her grandpa usually sat in.

* * *

"This woman is the one Inuyasha, I'm telling you she's-"

"I know you're gonna say the one, but you only met her five freaking hours ago, calm down." Miroku had been babbling on as him and Inuyasha unloaded the horses and sat in the barn. Despite the various times Inuyasha had been there and practically grew up there. The grandeur of the building was something he always took pleasure in looking at, with architecture that resembled that of a stable you would see when driving through Lexington, Kentucky. The building had a colonial style with twenty five stalls lining the walls, twelve on one side with a tack room toward the front entrance, and thirteen stalls lining the other wall. Inuyasha's attention was drawn to the closed back doors that slid open and led to the pasture.

Apache was out amongst other horse in the pasture, roaming with those that belonged to Miroku's father, and his own father. Their parents were in the cattle business together, and since they were young had made plenty of money off of it to maintain a relatively nice ranches. If there income wasn't enough, Miroku's mother worked as a registered nurse in a hospital which helped keep their property well maintained. The only horse Inuyasha's father owned that wasn't here was his favorite stallion, Powerball. A large pure black horse who still had it in him to kick you in the solar plexus if he didn't care for you.

The dim barn lights hit the concrete floor and made it seem much later at night then it actually was. Inuyasha was prepared to listen to Miroku ramble about the girl he had just met, he hadn't 'rambled' like this in a long time. If anything this was a first for Miroku to look so hopefully at a woman. The look Miroku had in his eye's brought memories of his own face when Kikyo had become such a large part of his own life.

"No, she's strong, and beautiful and-" Miroku's brain and heart were working together, making his heart beat and move like a train the more he thought of the girl. It was as though the emotions he felt for her were this unstoppable force of nature.

"Do you remember what happened with Shima?" He hated to break Miroku's bubble, but the dark haired boy had a habit of getting hopes so high that there was no possible way they could stay up there.

"Yes, and not every girl is her." Miroku said straightforwardly to Inuyasha

"Every girl is a damn good at playing games though, and they all know the best strategy to make you lose." Inuyasha paused for a moment before looking over at Miroku. "It's not too hard." Miroku huffed in annoyance as Inuyasha turned his head to the paint horse that resided in the stall next to where he had plopped down on an old crate. Angel was as intelligent as ever, her blue eyes met his gold and seemed to know what weighed his mind all of a sudden.

Miroku noticed the longing look between Inuyasha and the paint horse. He decided to switch the subject over to his friend. "So, I see you got a shiner on your eye there." Inuyasha's face switched from the blue eyes of the horse to Miroku's. On Inuyasha's face was a black eye on the right side where his scars were, a cocky grin slid across Inuyasha's mouth.

"Yeah, got in a fight with Koga." The mangy, silver-haired, bold young adult gloated.

Miroku tilted his head to the side. "Why?"

"Well, he pushed his girlfriend and I just didn't take well to it."

Miroku was putting a saddle in the tack room when he jolted still at Inuyasha's sentence. He never inserted himself into other people's problems unless he could get something out of it. Inuyasha wasn't satan in the flesh but after knowing the guy for years he wouldn't peg him as a saint either. "You put a guy in his place for beating on his own girlfriend?" Miroku sat the saddle down turned around as Inuyasha's face contorted into a confused expression.

Inuyasha's eyes removed themselves from Miroku. "Yeah I did, brought back unpleasant memories, I guess." He grew silent as the room was filled with the noise of a slight wind outside in the April night. Miroku grabbed a bucket and sat it across from Inuyasha as he plopped down on it.

"I think that Koga's girlfriend looks like Kikyo." Inuyasha's face shot out of a daze as his eyes were now narrowed and held the eminent sight of danger as the he expressed anger towards Miroku's words.

"Don't you ever bring up that bitches name in here, got it?!" Inuyasha's voice boomed as he stood up and kicked over the bucket. The paint mare spooked and jumped backwards in her stall as he ripped off his nascar ball cap and leaned against the front barn door.

* * *

"You don't understand that it is not okay to treat people like that." Kagome wanted to go inside and not see his face. Koga was the only one who could turn a night at a horse show into a bar brawl. She was uncomfortable when he insulted her best friend, when he insulted someone she had never met, and most of all when he pushed her.

"Kagome, I don't see the issue here." Koga snarled.

"The issue is you publicly humiliate and abuse people!" Kagome's voice had raised, and she began to feel tears rushing up to her eyes. The honesty that had come out of her mouth made her body feel overwhelmed and her chest full of an explosive pressure.

"When do I do that! Kagome, you can't just get upset over these scenarios you build in your head!" Koga was reprimanding her as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into and intimate closeness. She was beginning to cry, he smelt of beer, and she no longer felt safe within his grasp.

Kagome looked up as her eyes grew wider and tears were now streaming down her face in abundant amounts. She didn't want a relationship like this. It was as though her emotions were validated in no way. When she would ask Koga to try and hear them she was speaking to an empty room in which the walls were white and everything echoed back to you in a way that made you feel more lonely or empty before it had been spoken. "These aren't just scenarios, these are things you did tonight and do on a regular basis!"

"Again, you're overthinking all this shit! Kagome, the only thing wrong tonight was dog-boy butting into the conversation and-"

Kagome shoved Koga back and began to raise her voice more. "No! The thing wrong with tonight was you! Alright? Don't touch me!" Koga crossed his arms and cocked his head holding back frustration.

"Kagome this is insane." Koga's voice was quiet. "I know this is about Inuyasha, you were looking at him all night like he was meat or something!"

"What the hell, Koga!" As if Kagome's night couldn't get any worse, she was now being accused of having attraction towards the 'knight-in-shining-armour' of the situation.

"I damn saw you looking at him you littl-"

"Get off my porch, Koga. We're done. Just leave asshole!" Her chest rose more vividly as her breaths became heavier.

"You're breaking up with me?" Disgust crawled across Koga's face.

Kagome raised one eyebrow as she wore a pout on her face and her tears began to stop falling down her cheeks. "Yes, it's about time." Her outward appearance had a stern look about it, her posture and tone of voice held without cracks in her voice.

"You can't break up with me, are you gonna hook up with the albino?" Koga was laughing hysterically. He had gone past the line that was the end of Kagome's patience. If she listened to him speak any longer she felt that any self respect she had would have vanished into dust.

"Maybe I will." Kagome glared into his icy blue eyes. "It's not like you can stop me."

"Dammit, Kagome!"

"Get off my porch, you piece of shit!" Kagome walked into her house and slammed the door. As she plopped down on the couch she watch Koga pull out of the drive and the headlights move through the window. It was as though a feeling of contentment had reached her. She had a new freedom that didn't depend on Koga anymore. She thought that maybe she should find her hero, who so kindly reminded Koga of his wrongdoing, and her of her own self worth.

* * *

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha was in the stall with Angel, brushing her sleek coat down. His face peered through the bars in the stall, his face was contorted into his usual scowl. The black eye and scars that he wore behind the bars was like a reminder to Miroku why he had even crossed paths with Kikyo in the first place. "What do ya want, Miroku?" His tone was bitter.

Miroku had only known the beginning of Inuyasha and Kikyo's story, along with tattered threads of the end and how Inuyasha had managed to come home. It had been a little over a year and a half ago that Inuyasha had turned up unconscious in a field unexpectedly. It was the end of August and he hadn't seen Inuyasha since the end of January. The brute wasn't supposed to be back for a long time, if ever, so finding him in a field unconscious was discomforting for both his and Inuyasha's family. Even Sesshomaru who had been gone for years at a university was concerned for the well being of his brother. "You never told me the whole story about..." He trailed off as Inuyasha stopped brushing his horse. He now had the troubled young man's full attention.

"Kikyo?" Inuyasha's face melted into an expression of silent lament. No tears, no anger, just a straight face with sorrowful eyes at the very name that Miroku had spoke.

"Yes." Inuyasha looked uncomfortable as he directed his face away from eye contact.

Inuyasha was momentarily silent. "Honestly, looking back on it, it all seems dream like, it's as though it never happened." This was the most relaxed he had looked all night but at the same time the most empty. "She disappeared, and the further the experience is behind me the more I see her after I fall asleep, which makes her seem..." Inuyasha's eyes looked dazed as his small pupils grew..

"Illusive."

Inuyasha snapped back to himself after a few seconds of staring off into space."Listen dumbass, you wanna hear what happened or not?" Inuyasha stepped out of the stall and slid the door shut and he grabbed the bucket that was laying on his side and sat it up and he seated himself on it. He shot an intense glare at Miroku. Miroku nodded his head up and down as he stayed seated on his crate playing with a piece of straw. "I'll tell you, so get comfortable because it's not a short one okay. She's the reason for these scars on my cheek and besides my genes I'm pretty sure that bitch made my hair white."

"I'm listening." Miroku stopped and stared Inuyasha in the eyes as his friend's expression began to look heated.

"Okay, at one point she was my everything, the reason I woke up, the reason I breathed, the reason I didn't end up a complete mess, she changed me okay. I met this person who I believe we meet once in a lifetime, and she destroyed me and left me because she found out I was nothing more than the shit I was when they tried to ship me off to juvie after my mother died."

* * *

Author's note:

Hello,

If you've gotten this far, thank you. Thank you, I hope my story is enjoyable. Please review and tell me your thoughts. Also, I'm sorry I made Koga a big jerk (wolf boy is chill in canon), I still feel bad about that one.

Thank you!


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